The Journey of a Lifetime
by bub23453
Summary: What ever happened to Tommy's clone? Did he really live happily ever after? Could anybody, with the knowledge that they have, really stay content? And could he really be accepted? Find out all this and more. A Tom/Kim pairing while keeping with the Canon. My first story. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, nor Super Sentai. The only character I own so far is Caroline.

I can't promise regular updates as I am a student, but I can promise this story won't be abandoned. Huge thanks go out to UnromanticPoetess. Without her betaing, her help with historical accuracy, and her enthusiasm for this story, it would not have been written, nor would it be as good if it were written by just me. So thank you very much. If you haven't read her work, the Darker Shades of Green is the best adaptation of the Green Ranger saga that I've ever read. It's a long series but so well worth your time, I can't recommend it enough.

Journey of a lifetime:

Prologue:

"Si-KYAH!" Tom Oliver had to admit, he missed this. Fighting beside his fellow Rangers, he hadn't thought he'd ever have the chance again. After all, the last time he had to Morph, he ended up in the Colonial era.

Well, to be fair, this wasn't "his" team of Rangers. But the costumes were exactly the same. Only thing they were missing was their own Green Ranger. Never mind that. He had a job to do.

Fighting the all too familiar Goldar... No, here he was apparently Grifforzer. What a crazy world. He jumped, aiming for Grifforzer's wings, but the lion-faced monster quickly dodged.

"I knew you would betray us sooner or later, Burai!" Grifforzer snarled, bringing up his sword. Slashing at the "traitor", he was surprised by a blow to his head.

"Wrong Green Ranger, monkey brain! I'm right here!"

Grifforzer turned and could only stare in shock. There were two Green Rangers. What was going on?

Tom and Burai circled one another, each waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

"Who are you? How do you have my powers? What is going on here?"

Tom smiled under his helmet and said, "That is a very long story."

[A/N: You didn't really think I'd give that fight away so quickly did ya? :P]

* * *

Flashback:

After being left alone in the Colonial Era by his "twin", Tom was waiting for the barrage of questions. He was ready for that. But they just stared.

"Um... Hi!" he said awkwardly after a long pause. No one answered.

Going over to the Skull lookalike, he asked, "Is the offer to join your division still open?"

"I apologise, but... erm... we have had a very large intake, so I doubt we can take you in straight away! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Tom sighed. 'This is gonna be a LONG lifetime!' How right he was...

* * *

Two whole months. That's how long it took for the people of Old Angel Grove to get used to his presence. And they fought him every step of the way. When he went to the stores, he would get rotten meat. Hell, it was getting so ridiculous, Tom expected a boulder to mysteriously drop near him, with a coyote attached.

They didn't kick him out of stores. Oh no, they were too afraid of his "demonic powers." But everything else was fair game. All Tom could do was wait it out. But boy was it a long wait. No toilet paper, no TV when he got bored, and no friends. People were too afraid of his powers. He couldn't blame them, though, after seeing the monstrosities he had saved them from only a few short months ago.

'I guess they're finally realising that I'm not leaving,' thought Tom one night, as he bit into a (for once) rat-free loaf of bread. 'Guess it helps that I'm at least not using these powers anymore.'

And he wasn't. He well and truly learned that lesson when, after floating a young woman's basket out of the way of a herd of horses. Rather than be grateful for saving her shopping, the woman had whacked him with said basket and shouted that he was trying to take advantage of her with his unnatural powers... 'All of my unnatural healing, and my head still hurts thinking about that day!'

The wait may have been excruciating, but now at least he could buy some clean underwear (he hoped), and maybe get a job... Though he didn't hold his breath.

Hell, he was lucky to even be living in a house.

After being denied a job by the military, he'd spent two days just trying to find shelter. He'd been forced to sneak into other people's barns, and learned the hard way that no matter how annoying an alarm clock is, it's still better than a pitchfork in the left cheek...

Finally, Tom had had enough. He went to the town mayor, asking if there was a house for sale.

He'd been met with wide eyes and a shifty look. "Sorry, sir, we don't have anything available right now. But..."

Suddenly the door had burst open. It was the Mayor's Assistant.

"Mr. Mayor, you have to do something, the house where those monsters came from just collapsed again! Nothing that we're doing seems to help! It must be that Demon's fault..." Only then had he noticed the "demon" was right there. Paling, he tried to backtrack, only for Tom to interrupt.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take that house." As he guessed, there were no objections (they most likely hoped it would collapse right on top of him).

It hadn't taken long to fix what was wrong, and now he had a free house to boot. Ah, sometimes it was good to have the knowledge of future engineers.

After he'd finally finished the repairs, grown somewhat used to his new life, and eaten a meal that hadn't looked like it had been scooped up from the cow pasture, he could sleep at night and dream of a better future... Though he had no idea how Kimberly was able to be in it. As far as he knew, she was in Angel Grove of the future, safe and sound.

* * *

The next day Tom woke up with a pit in his stomach... one that wasn't connected to his massive hunger that even rat-free bread couldn't fill. He just had a feeling that by the end of the day something would happen that would massively change his life.

He went about his business, first going to the market and being greeted by frosty looks.

"Burn in hell, demon!"

"Hi, Rebecca, you have a good day, too."

"Satan will soon lay claim to your soul!"

"Ah, Brother Wilkins, always a pleasure!"

"Would you like some cake, dear?"

"Would love some, Mrs. Doss. Just not so much arsenic this time, if you don't mind."

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! Um... I mean, sorry... still no positions available... sorry, force of habit!"

"That's alright, Sergeant, and good luck with the bed wetting."

Yes, Tom was used to it by now... Which was kind of sad if you think about it. But today, his life would take a dramatic turn.

"KIMBERLY?"

At first glance, it looked just like her... except for the fact she was almost fully covered up. Tom shook his head, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him after last night's dream. How could Kimberly possibly be here?

She caught him staring. Her eyes became wide as plates. Surely it couldn't be her! And, alas, it wasn't, for she turned around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Tom, for the first time in two months, used his powers to follow her. Turning a corner, he made sure nobody was watching, and became invisible. He also added some energy to his legs, to make sure he could catch up. One thing never changed... no matter where she was, or WHO she was, a Hart seemed to always be an athlete.

After a few minutes, he managed to catch up to her, following her all the way to... church? 'Ah, she's probably praying that the demon doesn't catch her.' That's when he got yet another shock.

"Caroline! What have I told you about interrupting my prayers?"

"I'm sorry, daddy! I was just so scared! That demon, the one you warned me about, it just started staring at me, and running at me! What does it want from me?"

'DADDY? Just my luck, the copy of the love of my life, and her dad is the head pastor, who made sure she knows I'm a "demon".'

Tom wouldn't give up, though. And even if he couldn't have her, he'd find a way to look out for her. He followed her every day to make sure she was safe. A few times, she would find roses on her bed. Other times it was lilies. She didn't know who they were from, but was pleased nonetheless.

It was a good thing Tom followed her around, though, because while fast, Caroline Wilkins was anything BUT graceful.

The first morning, Caroline tripped while running to school. She was so late, her father was going to force her to clean the church AGAIN...

"HEY! Watch where you're going," an angry villager shouted while struggling to get back up.

"Sorry, I was just in a rush."

Tom couldn't help but laugh. This was the third time she crashed into somebody that morning, but because she was the Pastor's daughter, nobody complained too much... yet...

The second morning, she'd run into an old miner leaning heavily on a walking stick, which he'd jammed into his obviously arthritic feet after a run in with Caroline. Tom winced.

"Mrs. Hart, please put the knife down! I'll bake you a new cake, I promise!"

It was the third morning, and she'd run straight into the Sergeant's wife, who was taking a cake to the barracks. So Eugene Skullovitch's ancestors started off as Harts... He shrugged off the heartache at hearing the familiar surname, and he almost went to help Caroline, but she managed to dodge and run off... almost like she was used to dodging knife attacks.

After his daily stalking... 'no I'm NOT stalking, I'm just looking out for her!' After his daily "looking out for her," he went off to try to find a job. Money didn't grow on trees here, and people would soon start realising that the coins he gave the store clerks for his spoiled food was an illusion, which would disappear within a day.

Today, he finally got lucky. He was able to get a job repairing a barn. After the people saw how quickly he fixed the house he now lived in, they must have seen that not everything he did was bad.

'Thought too soon...' were Tom's thoughts, after being screamed at by the barn's owner. All he did was levitate a few bricks away after they almost killed him... if he was paranoid, he'd have thought it wasn't an accident. 'Maybe that boulder I was thinking about.' But at least all the guy did was yell. He still had a job.

Tom started on his way home, when he heard a crash and a scream. Quickly, he turned back and saw a pile of bricks had collapsed behind him, and three workers were trapped. Tom didn't think. He used his powers to float them out of the way, then applied some healing. It was over in minutes, but everybody was staring.

He looked around at everybody. Shocked faces looked back. Then he heard a noise.

*Clap*

*Clap*

*CLAP*

*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*

His ears weren't deceiving him. People were actually clapping and cheering. For the first time in a very long time, he thought things were going to be okay.

That is until he got home and noticed his house razed to the ground, with the message "stay away from my daughter, Demon" burned into where the front door used to be.

* * *

'Thank god for powers!' Those were Tom's thoughts a few days later, when he managed to rebuild. Those few days were awful, him sleeping on the ground, and not being able to eat anything. Luckily, some of his new friends he'd saved came by to lend a hand. They didn't mind him using his abilities anymore, and with that, he was able to finish a lot quicker.

He knew who burned down his house. With that message it could only be Brother Wilkins, so he decided to be even more careful stal... FOLLOWING the love of his life... He spent two more days pursuing her, and boy was he glad he did, because one time she tripped... right in the middle of a busy street.

A carriage was flying towards her.

She looked with wide eyes, frozen.

Tom pushed all the energy he could into his legs. He got to Caroline, pushed her out of the way, and the carriage hit him head on.

* * *

'If this is how Rita feels after every defeat, I'm starting to feel sorry for her...' Those were Tom's first thoughts upon waking up. He also wondered where he was, why he smelt like manure, and where the soft pillows came from...

Carefully opening his eyes, Tom saw that he was in a barn. He almost jumped after seeing a horse's face staring extremely closely at him... but when he jumped back, he elbowed the two "pillows"...

"OUCH!" He heard... Looking behind him, he realized the "pillows" were something else entirely.

"S-s-sorry!"

"Watch where your arms are next time! But it's alright... I'm glad you're awake."

Looking at her blushing face made Tom's heart ache all the more. It reminded him of Kimberly... of what he left behind in Angel Grove 1995.

"Where am I? And are you alright?"

"I'm fine... thanks to you... And as for where you are, we're in that barn where your friends hid the first time... I just hope nobody tells my father about this. I get warned about you so much, my head is starting to hurt. And... Well you can't be all that bad. You saved my life today!"

"I couldn't let you get hurt..." Looking at her blushing face, he almost couldn't resist... luckily/unluckily for him... he didn't have to.

Caroline dove at his face, quickly planting a kiss on his lips. Just as quickly she leaned back, blushing and stammering.

Tom paid no attention. He thought he'd be happy, that there'd be a connection, but it wasn't there... There wasn't that spark, like there was with the Kim of his time.

Slowly getting up, Tommy finally acknowledged Caroline with a sad smile... "I'd better go... And thank you for getting me here. How did you get me here anyway?"

"Ah... well one of the witnesses was a builder from your work place. He realised you needed help, and pulled you into his carriage. I told him to take you here because nobody goes here anymore. Not since your friends were here... everybody thinks it's tainted by evil energies."

'Ah... that explains it.' Tom was just about to leave when Caroline decided to take his silence as an excuse to kiss him again. Slower this time...

In all of his crappy existence, he'd waited for this moment, the one thing he was sure would bring him happiness. As he kissed her, two things ruined it. The first: he still didn't feel any spark. Even when he tried kissing her back... nothing, it was like kissing his sister. And he'd only done that on a dare!

The second: The doors were kicked open, by none other than Brother Wilkins. Seeing his little girl being 'accosted' by the demon was too much. He ran forward, picked up a shovel from the ground, and swung at Tom.

'Not another blow to the head...' Little did Tom know.

* * *

He woke up again with an even worse headache. He had no idea how much time had passed. All he knew was it hurt to...

He tried to breathe, but something was blocking his airway. Something cold and grainy. He tried spitting it out, tried opening his eyes, and realised he was under ground.

'Geez... how badly was I injured? And why didn't they put me in a coffin at least!' Though he could guess the answer to the second question was Brother Wilkins' idea.

'More importantly... how the hell am I even alive?' Having no answers, and still feeling the need to actually breathe, Tom started clawing at the dirt...

He didn't get very far before nausea overwhelmed him and he blacked out... This caused him not to notice his body heating up, or the electricity coming out of his arms and legs.

There was a giant explosion, Tom being in the center of it, but the young clone was still unconscious. He didn't wake up when the lightning moved him miles away, to a particularly familiar desert.

Three hours later, he awakened, gasping for air once again. After several minutes...

'Where am I? How did I get out of there? What's happening to me?'

Not having any answers, Tom started looking around. All around him was the desert... but just behind him he could see a building. It was one that was painfully familiar, and seemed to be Tom's best chance at figuring out what the hell happened to him.

Without any hesitation, he walked towards the Command Center... and hoped that he would find the answers he was looking for when he got there.

A/N2: Here it is. I know it seems a little rushed, but that's my writing style (Though I'll try to improve). Hope you enjoy and please review.

The really good stuff is coming next chapter. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and Zedd.

A/N3: Bonus points to the first person who figures out who Mrs. Doss is based on.


End file.
